


Gone Too Soon

by DenDragon14



Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - No Powers, Brotherly Love, Car Accidents, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Falling In Love, Family, Family Drama, First Love, Gen, Gift of Life, Good Brother Ben Hargreeves, Good Brother Diego Hargreeves, Good Brother Klaus Hargreeves, Grief/Mourning, High School, Human Dolores (Umbrella Academy), Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Number Five | The Boy Has Issues, Number Five | The Boy Needs A Hug, Other, Past Child Abuse, Past Violence, Post-Death in the Family, Sad Ending, Slice of Life, Sober Klaus Hargreeves, Terminal Illnesses, Time Skips, Wakes & Funerals
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-21
Updated: 2019-05-09
Packaged: 2020-01-13 03:03:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 13,590
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18460151
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DenDragon14/pseuds/DenDragon14
Summary: Five's family is slowly unravelling all around him. As is his life.Death seems to follow him. And it likes to play the joke that everything comes in threes.First, there was Grace.Then, there was Vanya.And now, Dolores might join the slowly growing list.





	1. Double Funeral

**Author's Note:**

> A quick note: In this, Five is fifteen, and all the others are older than him. In the end notes, I will put all their ages just ot get you all up to speed. I hope there aren't too many errors. Anyways, I hope you enjoy this!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Hargreeves siblings get ready to attend their parents funeral.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm silently berating myself for starting another story when I have like four WIP. But, I need to post this because this idea would not leave me alone. The number of chapters may change, depending on how this writes itself.

_In three words I can sum up everything I've learned about life: it goes on. ~_ Robert Frost

**Chapter One:** Double Funeral  
January

He'd been pacing all night. And now, as the sun made its way slowly over the horizon and tried to push its rays through the thick grey clouds, Five felt suddenly very exhausted, as though he'd been swept under by a tidal wave. He stopped his pacing and glared out the window, envious of the people just waking up; he wished he'd slept but his mind raced with thoughts of all sorts, he couldn't concentrate too long on one. He narrowed his past few sleepless nights down to the strange, uncomfortable, hollow feeling inside his chest. It felt as though someone had scooped out all his innards; he felt light, but it wasn't a good, airy kind of feeling. It felt as though something was missing. The longer he thought on it, the more and more convinced he became that this hollow feeling inside was loneliness. Perhaps some grief mixed in with it.  
  
He really hated the feeling, but he thought it was appropriate considering the circumstances. He glanced towards his closed door where he had hung up his best suit, his only suit. In the following hours to come, he'd have to attend a double funeral. Was that even normal? How often did that type of thing happen? And how accommodating the weather was, he thought, to decide to be bleak and grey for such a dark and morbid event. 

He sluggishly made his way down the hall to his brother's room and nudged his way in. Back before his mother's and his father's deaths, he'd been living at the Hargreeves manor with them and his eldest brother, Luther. However, upon hearing about their passing, Diego had shown up and asked if he wanted a place to stay. If and when the rest of the family went through the will, Diego assumed that the house would more than likely be sold if none of them wanted to keep it. Five had been happy to leave the house though, even without a decent excuse. With their mother gone from the physical world now, the last warm light in the house had been extinguished. Luther still currently lived there, but it was more than likely he'd be going back to L.A. with Allison when she had to return home to her own family.

"Diego?"

There was no movement from his brother's bed. He took a step forward and the floorboard underneath protested loudly. At the sound, Diego rolled over onto his side so he faced Five. Diego stirred from his sleep and slowly propped himself up onto his elbow.  
  
"What's the matter, buddy?" he muttered, his words slurring together, still half asleep. "Bad dreams?" On a normal occasion, Five would have felt offended at such a question. He was not a little kid anymore, and bad dreams or not, he would never come crawling to a family member and ask if he could crawl into bed with them because he was scared. However, given the circumstances, he could understand why Diego probably felt inclined to treat him as such. Although from what he had heard last night, Diego was more torn up on mom's death than he was, Five wasn't about to rub that in his older brother's face. 

"Can't sleep," he said. He glanced towards the curtains, where bleak, white sunlight was attempting to sneak through. "It's morning anyway. Are you going to get up? Don't you have work?" Diego threw the covers off and swung his legs over the side of the bed, rubbing the sleep from his eyes.  
  
"Nah, the chief detective gave me a few days off funeral leave. Not that bastard we called a father deserves a funeral." He slipped on a shirt that hung on the nearest bedpost and stood, his joints popping as he stretched.   
  
"You got your suit ready?" he asked. Five nodded as he watched his brother scramble around for a tie and socks to match the dark suit that hung over an armchair. He pulled the socks on and threw the grey tie he found onto the armchair.

He ruffled Five's hair as he left the room, which Five immediately smoothed down in annoyance.   
"I'll make breakfast," Diego said. "Then we'll get dressed."  
  
The apartment Diego had was small, big enough for a family of three at most, and the kitchen seemed claustrophobic at the best of times. Now was one of those times. Although Diego was focused on not burning the eggs, Five still felt from time to time, his brother's eyes on him, concerned and apprehensive. And he understood why Diego would be watching him like a bomb might go off at any moment; Five was generally bad when it came to expressing emotions. Sadness often came out as anger if the question "Are you okay?" was pressed enough. So he tried to ignore the concerned glances he felt thrown in his direction.  
  
He tried to listen to the radio, not actually hearing of the music but the slight static of it instead. His mind was so muddled and clouded and the lack of sleep was starting to eat away at his brain power. Diego placed a plate of food in front of him and Five found himself too exhausted to even lift his fork. He stared at the food; he really wasn't hungry. He was positive now, by how repulsed he felt just by eyeing the food, that what he felt inside was not hunger but a toxic mix of longing, loneliness, and despair. His brain still struggled to process that his mother was gone, permanently and he wouldn't be returning home to see her smiling face and bright eyes.  
  
That bastard Reginald he couldn't care less about, but their mother, Grace, she'd been nothing but an angel to them all, even when she was enduring Reginald's abuse. She had been so strong to take that man's torment and still continue to claim that she loved him. But it was also her weakness and after a heartbreaking diagnosis, Reginald had taken advantage of her, and advantage of all her children. It was a shame that they had died together; Grace still had many years ahead of her, although, with the Alzheimer's he assumed that perhaps that existence was not what she would have wanted.  
  
He hadn't realized he was shaking and had tears silently running down his face until he felt Diego's arms wrap around his shoulders in an attempt to comfort him.

"H-Hey, it'll be okay," he whispered as much to himself as well as to Five. His breath tickled Five's ear and although he found the sensation unpleasant, he was glad to have the weight of his brother holding him. It made him feel less alone. "It'll be okay."  
  
Diego released him and turned to crouch at Five's side. His lips turned up in a weak smile. "We'll be okay." Would they? With their parents gone from the physical world, he wondered what would become of their family. Grace had been the last, final thread holding them all together, and despite her early stage Alzheimer's, she had made sure that her family remained as tight-knit as possible. Now though, everyone was free to cut ties with those they didn't want to keep in their life anymore; it just seemed that most of them preferred to drift apart. And although he openly wouldn't admit it to anyone, he didn't want any of his siblings to drift further away.  
  
"Can we go back to the house," he asked, wiping the tears from his eyes. "There were some things I wanted to get."

* * *

The Hargreeves manor had always been a large monstrosity, and with the grey backdrop of the sky, the building stood menacing and proud as they approached its wrought iron gates. They made their way into the house and Five made his way up the main stairs to his room to collect the things he wanted. Diego stood in the foyer for a moment as he tried to push back all the thoughts the house brought to the forefront of his mind. Too many memories, a mix of bad and good. But mostly bad.

The lights cast a warm glow in the room He cleared his throat, drawing the attention of his two older siblings. Allison and Luther looked the same as ever, and Diego had to shake his head at the thickness of the sexual tension between the two. Family aside, they weren't related by blood, and even when they were kids, Diego had always known that both Luther and Allison had a crush on the other, but neither Allison or Luther would own up to their feelings. Allison had her back to him, her eyes focused on the papers in her hand. Luther was standing by the fireplace, papers in hand. The dark suit he had on seemed almost identical to the one that Diego had on himself, but he'd never been one for fashion; that was Allison and Klaus' area.  
  
All around them were papers and documents, seemingly stemming from several file boxes that took up space on the coffee table. He walked farther into the room and took in the hurricane of papers all over the place. He assumed that at one point or another, there had been some order to it, but now that order seemed lost.  
"What's all this?" he asked, gesturing to the open file boxes around the two of them. Allison startled slightly, only just becoming aware of his presence. She turned towards him and sighed, sounding slightly irritated.  
  
"Diego-"  
  
"You would know if you bothered to pick up the phone when I call," Luther said, cutting her off. He didn't even bother to make eye contact with Diego as he spoke. "We're looking for their will."  
  
"You sure you got that number right, brother," Diego asked. He came around the coffee table and headed over to the fireplace so he stood in front of Luther. He wasn't trying to be hostile, but it often seemed he came across as such. And perhaps he was being hostile at the moment; he'd always had a strange love-hate relationship with Luther. He remembered times where he had physically wanted to hurt him, and there had been times he had seen that intention through, but there had also been times where it pained him to see his brother hurting. "Because I never got any phone call." The two of them stood inches away from each other and Diego wished he were taller so he could look Luther straight in the eye.  
  
Allison sighed in irritation again. She placed the documents in hand down in the pile she'd been going through. Luther glanced up from the bundle of pages he'd been trying to focus on, his eyes darkening in anger as he met Diego's glare with a steely one of his own. He pursed his lips; if he'd been a cat, Luther's hair would have been raised in defense. Allison got up from her spot on the sofa and approached the two of them.  
  
"Can't you two have a conversation without this hostility for a change? Honestly, you two try to turn everything into a freaking wrestling match!" She stepped between the two of them, placing a hand on each of their chests as she pushed them apart. Diego stepped away from his sister's touch. He headed back over to the archway that opened up into the foyer, hoping that Five would be ready to leave. He knew when he wasn't wanted, and now was one of those times.

"Well, let me know if I'm in the will. I doubt that bastard would put us in it. And if he did, I'm sure he gave the good shit to the strong boy here. You were always his favorite, after all, Luther."  
  
"If you're going to cause trouble, Diego, go somewhere else," Allison suggested. "When we find it, I can tell you about their will later. Without Luther around." She eyed both of them sternly, although her posture read as exhausted. "In case you forgot, we have a funeral to go to in an hour and a half. I suggest you keep yourselves looking decent. Ben's meeting us at the funeral home, and you know he'll be mad if we're late."  
  
Diego turned on his heel and made his way back into the foyer, which stood empty and uninviting. Diego didn't want to be in the building any longer than he needed to. After years of avoiding the place, the way his skin crawled and his prickled was uncomfortable, to say the least.  
  
"C'mon Five," Diego called up the stairs. "We're obviously not wanted here.  Hurry up! Let's get the things you came for and go."

* * *

 As he waited for Five to gather his forgotten stuff, Diego found himself drawn upstairs to their father's study. The door was slightly ajar, the weak daylight casting the room in a pale light glow. He pushed the door open all the way, surprised to see that the room was in a state of disarray. Judging by the messy state of the room and recalling that their father was a rather meticulous man, this seemed to be where Luther and Allison had gotten their file boxes from.

His hand brushed along the marble top of the desk, a small layer of dust coming away on his hand. It had been awhile since anyone had been in here Allison and Luther excluded; last he'd heard form their father, he'd been busy with trying to find a caregiver for their ailing mother. He hated to think of how he had left their mother behind in this monstrous prison that paraded itself as a home.

"What're you doing?"

Diego glanced up from the stoic family photo that sat on the desk and saw Five lingering in the threshold of the door, a small box held in his arms. They'd never been allowed into their father's study, and even though the man was dead and gone now, it still felt wrong to him to be inside the room. Then again, when he thought of it, he reminded himself that his he'd always had a problem with listening to authority. Even now, with being  a detective, he still struggled to listen to orders from time to time while Five had always been a stickler for rules.

He didn't respond but returned to his snooping. He wasn't sure if he was looking for something or just rifling through things purely for the sake. Now that there was no one to stop him, he had free reign to root through everything his father owned.

A manila folder caught his attention. On the tab, written in large, block letters:  _KLAUS HARGREEVES._ Diego froze, his hand hovering over the folder. He hadn't heard from Klaus in a long while, courtesy of their  _beloved_ father. When Klaus had been in sixteen, Reginald had had him committed. Although Diego, Five and some of the others had tried to find out where, their father had the details locked away, at the time, where none of them dared to venture. 

And underneath Klaus' file, another file caught his attention. This one labeled  _FIEVEL HARGREEVES._ He grabbed the folder and opened it and scanned the few pages that were inside. His blood ran cold as he realized that these were admission forms to a hospital. A glance back at Klaus' file showed the same name of the hospital.

"Un- fucking- believable," he muttered. He shook his head, his eyes still focused on the words on the pages held in his hand. Five glanced at him curiously and attempted to peek over the desk to see if he could read whatever it was upside down. He slammed the file shut and stomped out of the office. With the file in hand, he stormed down the stairs and back into the living room where Allison and Luther had resumed plowing through piles of papers.

"The bastard died at the right time," Diego said. He waved his fist full of papers in Luther's face. "That bastard wanted to send Five away, same as he did Klaus." Luther glared at him in annoyance, and then in confusion at Diego's words. Even though he felt Five's presence standing in the entrance to the living room, he didn't dare look at his youngest brother to see his reaction.

Luther's brow furrowed, still confused. "Why would dad want to send Five away?"

Diego shrugged and waved the file folders in front of the taller man. "Beats me, but the old man wanted him gone. Five is our brother. Our family! Reginald sent Klaus away, claimed that he was insane! Why would you want that to happen to another one of your brothers?"

Luther gaped momentarily as he struggled for words. "You know well enough that Klaus _was_ ill; dad was right to commit him to a hospital. And who said I wanted to send Five away? I'm sure there's a valid reason as to why dad would want to commit him." Diego lips flattened into a line as a red hot anger washed over him and burned within the depths of his stomach. As far as he knew, Five suffered from no mental illnesses. Klaus had not been ill, not in the psychiatric sense anyway. No, his illness had been addiction, and everyone, Diego included turned a blind eye to it. There were days he wondered why he allowed his brother to pump his body full of toxic chemical combinations and even now he fought the urge to hit himself upside the head. He was such a thickheaded asshole sometimes.

Diego grabbed the fire poker that sat next to the mouth of the fireplace and pointed it toward Luther, who took a step back in shock. From his peripheral view, he saw Five watching, mildly amused at the events unfolding, his box of things still in hand. 

"Diego!" Allison exclaimed. She got up from the spot that she had taken up again on the sofa and stormed over to them, intent on intervening. "Drop it!"  Diego ignored her words and jabbed the fire poker towards Luther, who batted it away, only to have it jabbed at him again. Allison grabbed his wrist and forced it downward so they sharp end of the poker was pointed away from Luther's midsection.

 Family or not, if Luther chose to side with their deceased, abusive asshole of a father, then perhaps he deserved a fire poker in the ass. Allison too, if she sided with him. Neither of them seemed to care about Klaus he way he and Five did. Ben cared, but he wasn't here to voice an opinion. As did Vanya, but she couldn't give an opinion.  
  
"Look, I know you care about Klaus, but we don't have time to worry about him this moment," she said. "Drop it, please." Diego gazed at her venomously as he released his hold on the fire poker which clattered to the ground. Allison nodded in thanks and then glanced at the slim, sliver wristwatch on her slender wrist. "We should get going soon if we want to get to the funeral home on time. Afterwards, we can focus on finding Klaus, okay?"

* * *

They took separate cars to the funeral home mostly to avoid any arguments within the car that would more than likely cause an accident. From the parking lot, Diego spotted Ben right away, who stood underneath the awning of the funeral home, looking like a stoic statue all dressed in dark grey. He greeted them with a small upturn of his lips and a hug for everyone.

"What about Klaus?" Ben asked as they entered the lobby of the funeral home. Diego glared at Luther, who again stumbled for words.   
  
"Klaus couldn't come-"  
"Because they don't know where the fuck he is." Diego said, cutting his brother off. He placed a hand on Ben's shoulder and turned him away to leave Luther standing by himself. "You know those files we could never get our hands on to find out where he'd sent Klaus-I found those today." Ben's eyebrows raised in surprise.  
  
"Are you going to go get him?" he asked excited. "I can come with you guys." Diego nodded and patted Ben on the back.  
  
"The more the merrier."

Once they had all assembled within the viewing room, the funeral director assisted lifting the caskets into two different hearses that were driven out to the far side of the cemetery. Winter had made it's presence known and that day had decided to be exceptionally windy, chilling them all to the bone.

The funeral procession was silent as death, no pun intended. They were the only ones besides Pogo, an elderly friend of their father's that showed up for the service, which was really no surprise. Their family had never been social butterflies despite their father being a billionaire. None of them had anything to say when it came to Reginald- their mother however was a different case. Diego tried to say something, but his words dissolved into horrible stuttering which then dissolved into tears the longer he eyed the bone white coffin that contained his mother's body, blood red roses resting upon the casket. Ben wrapped an arm around him and pulled him close while Five finished speaking for Diego, trying his best to insert the same emotion provoking wording that Diego had been using.

Allison and Luther left shortly after the ceremony had ended, parting ways without so much as a goodbye. Diego offered to drive Ben back to his home, who declined and decided to take the bus back to his place to save Diego the twenty minute drive out there. Diego and Five drove back to his place in silence, both of them drained emotionally from today's events. 

Upon entering his apartment, they both sighed heavily, releasing a pent up exhaustion that now physically showed in both their eyes.  
"So, we're going to get Klaus?" Five asked. Diego stifled a yawn and shrugged off his suit jacket. He threw the jacket over the backs of one of the kitchen chairs.

"Yeah, tomorrow morning. You, me and Ben. Bright and early. It's a long drive, so try and get a good night's sleep."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you enjoyed this chapter, please let me know if I should continue writing this. I already have the first four chapters planned out and somewhat written out, it's just a matter of finding the time and motivation to finish and edit them. Feedback is highly appreciated, as are any kudos you leave.


	2. Klaus and Vanya

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Diego, Ben, and Five head out to the hospital to find Klaus. And later, Five visits Vanya and unknowingly meets Dolores.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The stuff written in italics is flashback or dream sequences, just a quick note since you'll probably see more of that with the future chapters. Hope you enjoy and sorry about any typos or errors.

**Chapter Two:** Klaus and Vanya  
January

"Hold fast to dreams, for if dreams die, life is a broken-winged bird that cannot fly~ Langston Hughes

  
_The sound of shattering glass and the squeal of tires and the crunching of metal echoed all around him. His world was thrown upside down as the vehicle rolled. Pain erupted all down his left side, and each deep breath left him with tears in his eyes. Fuzzy lights danced in his vision and he felt what he was sure was blood starting to mat his hair._

 _He breathed heavily as he tried to catch the breath that had escaped him as the seatbelt fulfilled its duty of keeping him from flying about the interior of the car._  
  
_"Va-Vanya?"_

 _I_ _n the distance, he heard what sounded like a mournful ghost to him. Sirens? Was help on its way?  
  
"_ _Vanya?"  
  
His head throbbed and he still felt blood running into his hair and dripping onto the roof of the interior. He tried to unbuckle himself, but either the buckle was jammed or his fingers weren't working properly, he wasn't sure. His ears rang. He heard no answer from his sister.  
  
"_ _Vanya?"_  
  
_Smoke was beginning to filter into the cabin of the car, and Five felt the panic rise in his chest. His chest hurt, though he still wasn't sure if it was his heart beating against his breast bone, or if it had to do with the impact his body had made against the seatbelt as it had held him in place when the car bucked to the side before rolling._

_There were flames now. Slowly, they crept closer, closer until he felt it lick at his skin. The smoke was thicker and the air was hard to find. He gasped for air and beat on the passenger window until a small section of the glass shattered and fell away._

_"Help! Help!"_

Five jolted awake, a scream stuck in his throat. Tears stung his eyes as his hands clenched at the bedsheets like a lifeline. The world slowly fell back into place around him as the panic and terror he'd felt began to fade away. The familiarity of his bedroom in his brother's apartment came back to him and he became aware of a presence that sat near him. 

His eyes wandered over and saw Diego sat on the edge of the bed, his concerned eyes following each of Five's movements. It looked as though he had rolled out of bed himself, dressed only in a muscle shirt and sweat pants. He was saying something to Five, although he couldn't hear properly, it sounded muffled, as though he were talking to Five with a thick layer of cotton in between them. If his lip reading was any good, it looked as though he was asking "You okay?" He smoothed back Five's hair, which was damp with sweat. Numbly, Five nodded, not actually processing the question. Diego seemed unconvinced since he asked again.

And like bursting out from under the water into the open air, the sound came back with a pop, as though someone had snapped their fingers.  
"You sure you're okay?" He placed a hand on Five's cheek, trying to draw him back to the present. Five inched out from under the gentle touch. He'd never been one fond of affectionate gestures, and although Diego meant well, it still bothered him.

"I'm okay."

His brother's facial expression still showed that he was unconvinced, but Diego just patted him on the knee before standing up.  
  
"I'll leave my door open in case you need something."

When Diego had returned back to his room, Five threw off the covers and took off his shirt to try and cool himself. Nearly six months had passed since that accident had occurred and he still had nightmares on a near weekly basis that involved the car bursting into flames while he and Vanya were still in the car. Luckily, at the time of the accident, he'd been conscious enough and had managed enough strength to pull both himself and his sister from the turned over car before it burst into flames. However, it didn't stop his subconscious from playing out the what if scenario if they had perished in a bath of flames.

He's gotten lucky in that accident and had suffered a moderate concussion, a dislocated shoulder, several bruised ribs along with two fractured ribs, numerous bruising all along his body and several deep, although non-fatal lacerations. Sometimes, he thought that perhaps it would have been better if they had both perished in the accident; then he wouldn't have to feel the guilt slowly eat away at his insides for what had happened to Vanya.

* * *

Diego wasn't surprised when Five fell asleep within moments on their way to bust Klaus out of the hospital. He knew the kid hadn't slept well since he'd picked him up from the house when he'd first heard news of mom's and Reginald's death. So he wasn't surprised that the last two days, he had started to look a bit like a raccoon with the dark rings around his eyes.

He'd probably be sleep deprived too if he had to stay in that beast of a house with only Luther for company while he listened to police tell them what had happened to their parents.

And with whatever had happened last night, he was sure that Five hadn't gone back to sleep afterward, and that bothered Diego like an unscratched itch. Even with the ten-year gap between him and Five, he still wanted to have a good bond with the kid, just like he wanted to have a good relationship with all his younger siblings. And although there was only a year separating him from Allison and Luther, Diego always felt most comfortable with his younger siblings. He chalked it up to the fact that Luther and Allison had always been smitten for one another and normally kept their focus on each other rather their other five siblings.

He wanted to be close to Five, but his youngest brother had always been very dismissive of affection which was something Diego enjoyed giving. Diego thought that maybe had to do with how he was raised by Reginald and Grace. Grace-mom- had always been one to give comfort, but generally if the other person sought it out initially. Reginald never bothered to comfort any of them, but boy did he love handing out punishments. He also assumed that maybe, if the age gaps between Five and rest weren't so large, perhaps they would have been closer. Either way, it was something he'd have to think later on.  
  
The hospital they were headed out to-St.Valentine's- was almost an hour and a half drive out of town. As far as hospital facilities went, it was a nice establishment in Diego's opinion. From the brochure that he had found within Klaus' file, it offered some of the best specialty care, both for mental illness and physical illness. He supposed that he could give their father kudos for choosing a Grade A place.  
  
Ben's place was on the way out of town, as was the hospital, so it worked well enough to pick him up from his place and continue on down the road. Ben, always punctual, was already waiting outside his house when Diego pulled up in front. He slid into the back seat, careful to shut the door quietly to not wake Five.

"Morning," he said softly. He glanced at Five, whose head rested against the window, oblivious to the world. "Rough night?" 

"For him, not for me," he said, pulling away from the curb. "You've taken psychology classes, haven't you? What does a repetitive dream mean?" In the rearview mirror, he watched Ben shrug, his eyes wandering to gaze downward in thought.  
  
"I'd say he's fixated on a moment in his life he wished he could change. But the result is always the same. But that's just a guess." Ben's words fell into silence as Deigo digest the words. He'd always admired Ben for his smarts and he silently envied his brain and compassionate nature. 

"That's a good answer," he said finally. Ben smiled weakly and turned his eyes to gaze out the window.

"Thanks, but I don't really want to do a dream analysis or psychoanalysis on my little brother."  
  
"Fair enough, Benny," he muttered. He refocused his full attention on driving and tried to avoid the larger potholes so Five wouldn't smack his head against the glass and rouse him from much-needed sleep. The ride there went smoothly, other than having to make a quick detour around a construction site, and Diego was glad that they hadn't gotten lost. He never used GPS and his own sense of direction wasn't the greatest, so it was not abnormal for him to get lost along the way. However, being a detective had improved that problem slightly; he at least knew the city well enough, but outside the city limits, he was like a blind guy walking in a cornfield. 

The hospital they pulled up into was big and somewhat majestic looking, made out of a shockingly white type of stone. It gave off the vibe of being both old and regal while stilling being new and modern. It was rather dizzying. The parking lot was rather full, and the fee to the park was ridculous, but it seemed that most hospital parking lots were full on a weekend. So they ended up parking rather far away from the doors, which was fine with him.  
  
"Hey," he said gently, nudging Five in the shoulder, "We're here." Five's head snapped up, still sleepy. He rubbed the beginning of a drool trail from his cheek and glanced out the window at his surroundings. He opened up the car door and slid out. As Ben and Five made their way toward the front entrance, Diego stepped back to take the building in.  
  
From the outside, it looked exactly like the pictures in the brochure, he hoped the rest held up with his expectations. But upon entering the lobby, it still matched up with the brochure pictures. The three of them glanced up at the directory on the wall above the information desk to see which floor they needed to get to. They headed up to the sixth floor and took a right towards the psychiatric ward. It was one of those places that had locked doors that required visitors to be buzzed in.

The automatic locking of the doors reminded Diego of a prison, but the inside of the ward was rather warm looking with neutral color walls and bright lighting and there was ample lighting with the windows, which he hoped were reinforced from breaking upon heavy impact. And he didn't hear any agonized screaming, so he assumed that the place couldn't be that bad. The trio approached the nurses' desk on the nurse at the desk glanced up at them and plastered a smile onto her face.  
  
"Hi, there. Welcome. What can I do for you gentlemen today?"

"Hi, we're looking for our brother. Klaus Hargreeves, do you know where he'd be?" Diego asked. The nurse opened up something on her computer.  
  
"Just a moment," she said, typing in information into the system. "Yes, Klaus....the last records we have on Klaus date back around three years. He was released on his eighteenth birthday."  
  
"Three years?" the three of them said in unison. They all sounded surprised, which was an understatement considering the fact that Klaus would be twenty one now and he'd been in the hospital since he was sixteen. Had any of them known sooner of his whereabouts, they would have gotten him much sooner. 

Diego leaned forward, trying to see the computer screen at the odd angle it was on. "Is there any way you can tell us where he went to after he was released?" The nurse shook her head slowly, her eyes sympathetic.  
  
"I'm sorry, I don't have any way of knowing that," she said softly, "Is there anything else I could do for you gentlemen?" Diego waved off her offer and walked away from the desk, already headed back toward the elevators. He heard Ben and Five follow behind him.

When the elevator door had closed the three of them in, their conversation returned.

"Knowing Klaus, he's probably back to his old habits. God knows where shooting himself up..." Diego clenched his hand into a fist. He was angry, at himself as well as Klaus. He should have cared more about the well being of his brother instead of acting so selfish on working his way up to detective.

"Addiction is a mental illness," Ben said. "That's why dad had him committed in the first place; Klaus OD-ed on something."  
  
"No, he didn't," Diego bit back. "I mean, yeah, Klaus has overdosed before but he sent Klaus away because he was talking to himself, remember? He thought Klaus was fucking schizophrenic or whatever. And I read those papers and that's what they said he had." Ben sighed heavily and rolled his eyes in annoyance.  
  
"Have you ever thought that maybe the hallucinations were a side effect of the drugs he was taking?"

"Can we stop arguing about why Klaus was sent here," Five asked, butting into the conversation. "He's not here now so why does it matter? Let's go." The elevator door dinged open and Five headed toward the sliding glass doors that led out to guest parking. He sounded angry, which wasn't new for Five, but Diego thought that it seemed a bit too emotional. Five was normally such a controlled individual when it came to emotions. Diego supposed that with their parents' freak deaths that hung over his head, the little guy had a reason to be irritated.

The three of them got back into the car, this time Ben in the front passenger seat and Five in the back.

"Well, that could have gone a lot better," Ben said, his shoulders slumped in defeat. Diego hummed in agreement as he started up the engine and pulled out of the parking lot. He'd wasted all that gas for nothing; at least Ben was good on paying him for gas money, he appreciated that. The majority of the ride back from the hospital was quiet.

"I still think we should try and find him," Diego said. He wanted to find Klaus; their brother didn't deserve to be cast aside like garbage and left to wander through life alone and wonder f any of his siblings actually cared about him.

"It doesn't seem like he wants to be found," Five muttered. His gaze was focused out the passenger window, his eyes half closed as he watched the world blur by before him. "He would have come home if he did, wouldn't he?" Ben shrugged and pinched the bridge of his nose and rubbed his eyes with his thumb and forefinger.

"It's Klaus," Ben said, sighing heavily, "whether he wanted to be found or not, there's a high possibility that they just released him and he went and traded his prescription in for whatever he could get his hands on."  

* * *

They dropped Ben off at his place and headed back toward Diego's apartment in silence. Five wasn't sure if it was tense silence or if was uncomfortable, but both of them seemed preoccupied with their own thoughts to hold a proper conversation. 

"Diego, can you drop me off at the hospital? I want to visit Vanya." He wasn't sure why he felt the sudden urge to visit her. He thought it might have to do with their failure to find Klaus; Five had actually gotten his hopes up and of course, he was disappointed...he hated it when he did that. Ben and Klaus were the same age, although Klaus was always the one that was more available on any level. Ben was busy on his bachelor's and Five didn't want to disturb the concentration he needed for his studies and he missed Klaus'company.

Diego changed direction and headed to the hospital without question. He knew how much Vanya meant to Five and didn't bother to question what provoked a sudden visit. He slowed to a stop in front of the hospital to let Five out. Five climbed out and made his way toward the entrance. He heard a car horn honk, drawing his attention back to Diego's car.  
  
"Text me when you need a ride back," he called through the open passenger window. Five waved and nodded and continued on his way into the lobby and straight to the elevators.  
  
Even with school still in session and with the death of their mother and father, he still saw Vanya almost every day, it was important for him. To put his mind at ease, however temporary it may be. The nurses on her floor had become acquainted with Five and although on the surface, all of them seemed nice he knew that they pitied him for visiting someone who was so dormant. Maybe sympathy was more fitting, but he didn't want either from them.  
  
"Hey, Vanya."  
  
No reply. Only the sound of the ventilator as it breathed for her. He pulled a chair up next to the bedside and sat down. He grasped her hand, carefully wrapping her fingers around his hand since she couldn't do it herself.

Her physical injuries had long since healed and her doctors had hoped that she'd wake up when her body was in a better condition. Every time he came here, he had to tell himself to not be afraid. Not be afraid to look at her. Not be afraid to touch her. All the tubes and wires that were connected to Vanya made her seem somewhat alien to him, and at seeing all these sticking out from her, he was hesitant to touch her in the slightest; he wouldn't want to accidentally unplug anything.

The first few times he visited alone had been strange; he wasn't sure what a person did in a hospital room when the person they were visiting wasn't even conscious.

Sometimes, he rambled on about his week. Other times he brought a book to read and if it had been a particular favorite of Vanya's, he'd read aloud. And even, on the rare occasion, he'd brought some classical music that she could listen to in whatever coma induced wonderland she was in.

But most of the time, he hoped.

Maybe the better word would be praying perhaps since he had reached out to God and any other higher being out there on several occasions when he was feeling particularly desperate. He found himself doing the same just as he had hoped that mom's decline wouldn't be too sudden, too fast. But it had been six months and there was still no sign of improvement on Vanya's brain activity.

Five knew the rest of his family was losing hope or had lost hope entirely on her situation. Diego came once in a while to visit out of obligation,  but as far as Five was aware, none of the others had shown up other than upon the night of the accident. He gripped his sister's hand tighter, mentally urging her to wake up. He missed her,   
  
"You need to wake up Vanya. I know you're still in there. It must be hard trying to find your way back from whatever dream world you're in."

 _"Are you going to major in music?" he asked. Vanya shrugged, her eyes focused on the road. Driving with her was always rather quiet, but not in an uncomfortable way; it was peaceful. Five could do a lot of thinking when Vanya drove._  
  
" _Probably," she replied. "I'm not sure what else I'd major in. I'm not even sure what my minor will be."_

 _"We should celebrate," he said. He glanced to her and smiled at her. "You want to eat? I can buy you dinner-"_  
  
_Vanya smiled slightly and gave him a side glance. "I appreciate the gesture Five, but you don't have to-"_

 _"C'mon, my treat," he said. "You know I wouldn't offer to pay if it were any of the others. You know you're my favorite, Vanya."_   _At this, Vanya laughed and she pushed him playfully in the shoulder, her eyes still focused on the road._  
  
_"I'm sure you say that whenever you've got one of us alone," she said_.

 _"Honestly, though. You should celebrate. You got a full scholarship; that's saving you a whole lot of money. Ben got lucky that way too. And you deserve it, Vanya. I know dad never saw your potential, but what he thinks doesn't matter anymore."_  
  
_"Okay, fine," she said, another smiling crawling onto her face. "If you buy me dinner, I'll play you your favorite piece when we get home."_

 Those were the last words he'd heard her say. 

He was still waiting to hear Vivaldi's Winter. The violin in the symphony sounded particularly difficult, but knowing Vanya, she'd have down it justice.

Five sighed heavily and drew himself from his dark thoughts. He glanced out the hospital window and saw that the winter daylight had disappeared and the sky was quickly starting to darken to navy; he'd been here a lot longer than he thought he had.

He released her hand and gently placed her back on the bed, straightening out her fingers so her hand rested flat on the blankets. 

"I should go. It's getting late," he said, glancing down at his sister's sleeping face. "See you soon."

Reluctantly, he left the room, texted Diego for a ride back home, and took the elevator back to the main floor. He hated having to leave Vanya all alone like that; the nurses did their job just fine as did the ventilator, but that didn't stop him from worrying. He worried that she'd wake up without anyone there and he didn't want to see that lost and sad look in her eyes when she'd known she'd been forgotten. And throughout their lifetime, he'd seen that expression in her eyes a lot.

Five was shaken from his memories as a felt something squash his foot, preventing him from moving for a moment. He gritted his teeth in pain and glared at the source for the cause of his pain. A girl about his own age sat in a wheelchair, one of the wheels rolled directly over his foot.   
  
"Excuse me," he hissed through gritted teeth. "Could you get off my foot? Now?"

"Oh, my god, I'm sorry." The girl wheeled the chair around awkwardly to face Five. He sighed as the painful pressure came off his foot and he took a step back to avoid having the wheels run over his toes again. He noticed that underneath the loose white shawl the girl wore she only had one arm, the right arm gone at the shoulder. "The nurse kind of just left me here and I can't exactly wheel about with only one arm. Well... I can but I can only go in circles." 

He glanced around and seeing that no one was visibly accompanying the girl, he walked to the back of the wheelchair and took the handles.  
"Do you want me to help?" he asked. The question was rare on his lips; he rarely ever felt the urge to help a complete stranger; the same thing applied to his siblings. On a rare occasion, he'd help them with something, but most often, he wanted to know what was in it for him.  
  
She glanced over her shoulder at him, her lips were drawn up into a smile. A smirk? He couldn't tell if it was one or the other.  
"That'd be great." She pointed over toward the lobby doors. "Just over there, if you don't mind." Five pushed the chair over to where she had indicated and swiveled the chair around so she had a view to look outside; he assumed that she was waiting for someone, but what did he know.

"Is this okay?" he asked, putting on the wheelchair's brake. She nodded.

"Thank you," she said, smiling brightly, her dark eyes shining. Five couldn't help but smile back, her smile seemed that contagious. "You're such a gentleman."

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You're probably thinking "What, no Klaus?"  
> Would I put the character name in the tags if he wasn't in it? He'll be in it soon, I promise. As will Dave!
> 
> Also, I would like to know, what did you think of the hospital scene with Vanya? I wrote some of this based on my own experiences when my dad was in ICU before he passed. For me, it touches my heart, but I'd like to know if it touched yours as well? 
> 
> And sorry for an abrupt ending to this chapter. I wasn't really sure where to end it. The third chapter will probably be a lot longer. Also, thank you to those who have left kudos or left comments; they're all so nice!


	3. Too Late

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The siblings discuss their parents' will and they realize that their mother's death might have been planned. Later, Five officially meets Dolores, who takes an interest in him and his only friend, Kenny. Months later, the family struggles with another difficult time that leaves Five rather heartbroken, Diego pissed and Luther and Allison at odds with their three other brothers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this chapter happens in two separate months. The first section is in January. All the other sections after that happen in May. Also, sorry in advance if there are any typos or other errors. This literally took me so long to edit this, I just had to decide it was good enough.

_Siblings: your only enemy you can't live without. ~_ Anonymous

 **Chapter Three:**  Too Late

**January**

Several days after their failed trip to find Klaus, Diego, Five and Ben were called back to their childhood home at the request of Allison. She had called them all earlier that morning and had mentioned that she and Luther wanted to discuss their parent's will before they departed to LA the following day. It wasn't a surprise to Diego that Allison wanted the will and the estate dealt with as soon as possible, and knowing Allison, she'd never leave the responsibility to any of her brothers.

Without the fireplace lit this time around, the house seemed hollow and empty, longing for people to stay within its walls. While Five continued down to the kitchen in search of their sister, Diego, as well as Ben, stopped momentarily to gather their thoughts as their eyes explored the great main staircase that led to walls adorned with family portraits of disgruntled and unhappy faces.  
  
"I feel bad for leaving Five here," Ben muttered. He slowly made his way into the living room. Diego followed and noticed upon entering the living room that the boxes he'd seen Allison and Luther rifling through still remained. However, the tornado of papers had since then been cleaned up.  
  
"You've been busy with school, Ben," Diego said, hoping to remind him of his brother's hard work. "Otherwise I know you'd probably come back for him." Ben shrugged, his hand grazing across the fireplace mantel as he sought out a place to sit.  
  
"That doesn't make me feel any better about leaving him here though." His face darkened as he wandered deeper into thought. "And mom. We left mom here, with that man we called a father. "

Diego rested his hands on Ben's shoulders in reassurance. "She had Five."  
  
"But he had no one," Ben said, sounding frustrated. "I mean everyone in this house just left, save for Luther. But he's not much of a comfort,  no matter how much he looks like a giant teddy bear." Diego smiled weakly at Ben's attempt to diffuse moments that sucked emotional energy from people.  His definitely had dark sense of humor when it was needed.

They didn't have to wait long until Five came up from the kitchen, Allison, and Luther in tow. Allison frowned at the sight of one missing brother.  
"You didn't find Klaus?" she asked, turning her gaze to Diego. Diego flopped down onto the sofa and lifted his feet onto it, sprawling his entire body across the piece of furniture.  
  
"When he became of legal age they let him go. That was about three years ago, give or take."

Five sat in front of the coffee table and pulled one of the file boxes toward him.  
"Where is their will, exactly?" he asked, rifling absently through all the papers. "I mean, did you find an official copy of it, or is it just written out by hand?" 

"Does it matter?" Luther asked, sounding on edge. Five shrugged, preoccupied with rifling through all their parents' files and important papers. He glanced up at Luther momentarily and smiled slyly.  
  
"It was just a question, Luther. Don't get so defensive." He went back to rifling through their parents' papers while Luther lumbered over to sit next to Ben.

"Okay, can we get started now?" Allison asked. She pushed Diego's legs off the sofa so she could sit down. "I would really like to get back home before tomorrow. Claire has a dance recital-"

 "Sure, let's start," Ben said. "I'd like to get back home soon too. I've got a big project I have to work on for a physics class."

"So we agree to sell the house?" Luther asked, getting right down to the matter at hand. He glanced around at everyone, searching for confirmation or negation. Diego shrugged. Ben and Allison nodded. Five hummed, preoccupied with reading the papers in hand. Luther seened to take that as majortiy vote for yes.

"Okay, so we're going to sell the place."  
  
"What are you planning on doing with all the shit in this place," Diego asked, gesturing around to the densely furnished living room. "I'm not taking any of the furniture from here."

"You could sell it as is," Ben suggested from his spot on the other regal, stiff sofa. "I don't know much about realtors and how pricing houses go but it might be less expensive than hiring someone to move all the furniture."

"No," Allison said, "I think it's best to clear the place out. We'll probably get more for an empty house, no one will want any of this stuff. I'll pay for it if you guys don't have the money for it." Diego bit his tongue to stop himself from making a comment about her wealth. With their father dead, there were billions to split seven ways, but he honestly thought Allison didn't need more money. He knew Allison didn't like to show that her small movie roles in Los Angeles were earning her a pretty penny, but with that much wealth it showed no matter how hard she tried to cover it up.

"In regards to their will," Allison continued. She gestured to Luther, who pulled out several neatly folded pieces of paper from his trenchcoat. "Dad left the house to everyone. We've already said we're selling it so let's go over the particular items he left everyone."  
  
Luther was left their father's monocle and the contents of their father's study. Diego was left the family portraits. Allison was left an old movie projector and screen. Klaus was left his taxidermy animals. Ben was left the contents of the library. Five was left nothing, while Vanya was left the grand piano.  
  
"What about mom's stuff?" Diego asked. He couldn't have cared less about the family portraits; everyone always looked miserable in them, he didn't need that hanging up in his apartment. Grace's possessions on the other hand, some of that he might want to look through. He was sure there was something he'd want to keep as a reminder of who Grace Hargreeves had been. Luther glanced over the will, scanning it for information.  
  
"Mom's possessions are to go to everyone and be divided equally."

"So, it's a free for all?" Ben asked, trying to simplify. Luther nodded in affirmation and folded up the file again.

"Have any of you read this?" Five interrupted, holding up an envelope. Clearly, he had not been listening, too occupied with rifling through the file box. "It's for Number One."

 It had been their father's  _original_ idea to give them all number instead of names. They were all adopted at a fairly young age and although they already had names Reginald never bothered to remember any of them. Growing up, he never showed any interest in any of his "children". Luther was probably the most loyal to their father, so it made perfect reason as to why the note would be addressed to him.

 "What's it say?" Diego asked. Five's eyes scanned the note and a frown pulled and he glanced back at Diego.  
  
"I don't think you want to know." Diego frowned and all but ripped the note out of his youngest brother's hands. He read it as quickly as his eyes would allow. He clenched his fist, crumpling the note at its edges.  
  
"That bastard. That BASTARD." 

"What Diego," Ben and Allison exclaimed at his outburst; wasn't new for Diego to burst into a rage like that. Allison snatched it from his hands when he didn't respond. Her eyes scanned it quickly, her mouth forming a small "o" , clearly surprised.

"He planned mom's death. After her diagnosis, he planned on how to make it look like an accident." She passed it over to Ben who shook his head in disbelief before he passed it back to Five.

"Makes sense," Five mumbled. " Wanting to send me away and then offing mom. He and Luther would get the house to themselves knowing the rest of you steer clear of it like a bowl of week old applesauce sitting in the sun."  
  
"But why kill himself with mom," Ben asked, "That makes no sense."

 "Well, some people who have dementia or Alzheimer's tend to think that they're younger," Five explained, "Mom still knew she had a family and that she had kids. She was always thinking we were younger than we actually were. It's possible she tried to defend herself-"

Luther snatched the note from Five's hand and scanned it briefly before he ripped it into shreds. He released the now shredded note and allowed the scraps to flutter down to the floor and into Five's lap.  
"Who cares, Five," he asked, his voice tense. "It's too late to discuss something like this. That note is in the past. We're trying to discuss the present, which is what to do with all this stuff they left behind."  
  
"You're such an ass, Luther," Five snapped. He brushed the paper scraps off of himself and stood up. He approached the couch where Luther sat and as though he could sense Five's hostility, Luther stood up too. Five barely came up to Luther's chest, but Diego knew well enough that Five had enough spite and energy to take on the big oaf.

"She was sick, Five," Luther exclaimed. "It was just going to get a lot worse! She'd remember nothing! She'd be an empty shell of herself."

"But she was our _mother_ Luther," Diego growled. "She adopted you-all of us. She didn't have to. She didn't have to be a mom, she wanted to be. And we got lucky." Ben nodded in agreement as did  Allison. Diego got up from his spot on the sofa.  
  
"I've had enough of your bullshit, Luther," he exclaimed as he started to exit the room. "I'll come back for some of mom's things when you're not around."

 Ben and Five soon trailed after Diego as they made their way out of the room and back out to Diego's car. For awhile, the three of them sat in silence, each of them simmering in their own thoughts. Diego hit the steering wheel angrily, the horn honking as his fist hit it.  
  
"This fucking family! Couldn't we just be somewhat fucking normal?"

* * *

**May: Four Months Later**

After school had finished for the day, Five found himself headed toward the nearest bus stop to go and visit Vanya. With finals right around the corner, he hadn't had too much free time to see her. Despite being in the majority of AP classes, Five felt little need to study, although his teachers, guidance counselor and even his brothers had advised him otherwise. Throughout the entire year, he'd been at the top of his class, and although he'd never admit it to any of the other students, it was with minimal studying.

So, right now, school could wait. His sister was more important.

Since the new year had started, the nurses and doctors still reported that there was no change in regards to Vanya's brain activity. Honestly, sometimes Five wondered how useful technology actually was to humans. He was sure that that the last time he'd been there, he'd felt her squeeze his hand. Perhaps he'd been imagining things, but he trusted his own judgment more than the doctors sometimes. Everyone seemed to forget that doctors were humans too, and just as flawed as the rest of society. And technology couldn't be trusted one hundred percent either.

 Five made his way up to Vanya's ward and headed way down the hall to her room, the last one on the left. Vanya's door was wide open. He got two steps into the room and froze on spot as his eyes tried to take in the unfamiliar picture scene that was presented before him.

The ventilator-what kept his sister breathing- had been unplugged, the strange, rhythmic noise he had grown used to now gone. The silence in the room was deafening and all he could hear was the pounding of his heart against his ribs and the blood as it pulsed through his body. All the wires and tubes were removed, discarded or placed back on their proper carts in their proper drawers. The blankets were folded and placed neatly on the guest chair. The body- His sister- rested on the bed, the sheets pulled up over her head.  
  
"Vanya-" He couldn't breath. His chest felt tight as though some had wrapped a cord around his lungs and was pulling them taught. He forced himself to the side of the bed. He had to see, just to prove his mind that this was _real_ , that this wasn't some very vivid nightmare. He slowly pulled back the sheet, expecting the worst, but if he hadn't known that she was dead by the slightly too pale skin complexion, he'd have to say she looked almost like she was sleeping. 

She had probably died alone. And here he'd been worried that no one would be around when she woke up; she'd never get that chance now.

"Young man?" A gentle hand touched his upper arm and pulled his gaze away from his sister's corpse momentarily. A middle-aged nurse, dressed in brightly patterned scrubs stood next to him, a concerned expression on her generously aging face.

"Are you family?"

He nodded. He swallowed past the sudden in his lump. "I'm her brother."

"I'm so sorry about your loss."

"How...How long ago?" he asked, his voice sounding broken as he forced each aound past the lump in his throat.

"Not too long ago. Maybe about twenty minutes."

Twenty minutes.

Twenty minutes too late.

Twenty minutes too late.

She was gone. She was gone and he hadn't been there. He hadn't been there to say goodbye.

A flurry of emotions rolled around inside of him as he tried to process everything around him. There were waves of sorrow mixed with rage and he wasn't sure which was more overpowering. His body vibrated with the mixed energy and he felt his hands curl into fists.

Someone had had to okay the decision to pull the plug. He knew Diego and Ben would never do something like that, at least not without asking for his input. Luther and Allison.... he couldn't see Allison willingly doing anything like this to her only sister. But Luther, he definitely could see Luther doing something like this. Ever since January, when they had found that letter from their father, Five wasn't exactly sure what to think about his eldest brother. It seemed clear to their father that if asked, Luther or Number One- was prepared to keep a secret from the rest of his family. And after what he had said about their mother, Five thought that Luther really didn't care much about their family, save from Allison.

And that didn't sit right with Five at all.

He heard the nurse saying something to him, but everything around him was garbled and muffled. Blood pounded in his ears and he felt every beat of his heart as it pounded against his ribs. He took one long, last look at his sister.

He swallowed past the lump in his throat.  
"Goodbye...Vanya." The words came out tearful and quiet. He bit on his tongue to stifle a sob. He wanted to stay, he really wanted to stay. But he said his final goodbyes; if her spirit was around, then hopefully she'd know that he hadn't intended for her to be alone when she passed.  
  
Slowly, he exited the room and walked down the hall back to the elevators. He pulled his phone from his pocket; he had to call someone. Diego. Ben. Both of them, they needed to know, but he also just wanted a comforting voice in his ear so the sound of his heart breaking wasn't quite so loud.

He waited until the got to the lobby to try for a phone call. Having a phone conversation on the elevator with strangers around was just uncomfortable. His hands shook like a leaf about to fall as he tried to dial his brother's number. His vision blurred with tears and his phone slipped from his hand. He muttered a curse as he bent to pick the device up, only to knock heads with someone who'd been trying to do the same.

He squinted at the girl that stood before him; she seemed familiar. The white shawl, the missing arm, it all seemed familiar, but he swore that he did not know this girl. He was ready to snap at her; he needed to take his sadness-his anger- out on someone, or something, but all his words that caught in his throat like a bug caught in a spider's web.  
  
"Are you okay?" she asked. He glared at her, tears blurring his vision, as he tried to calm the erratic beating of his heart. She picked up his cellphone. "You're shaking. Are you sure you're okay?" He nodded wordlessly as he bit on his tongue to keep back his sobs. 

She handed him the phone and he mouthed a thank you. She smiled sympathetically and carried on her way through the lobby, a rolling IV bag stand in tow.

He listened to the tone of the ringing phone as he waited, hoping that Diego would pick up.

The phone rang three times before his brother picked up.  
  
"Hey, Five, can I call you back?" Diego asked. "I have to be in a debriefing. it won't be too long. Maybe half an hour?" Five's silence over the phone seemed to spark concern in Diego since the pleasant note in his brother's voice disappeared.  
  
"Five? What's wrong?" No, he sounded worried. Five thought. And he had a right to be; if someone supposedly phoned you and then didn't say anything, the majority of people would probably panic in some sense or another. Five focused on breathing, as it still felt as though there was piano wire tied around his lungs. "Are you okay?"  
  
"Vanya..." his voice trembled and he sighed shakily as he tried to recompose himself. "She's gone." 

* * *

Diego rushed home early and entered to find Five hastily punching the punching bag that hung in the far corner of the living room. His breathing was angry, as were his actions, but Diego noticed the red rim around his eyes and the way his hair seemed messed up as though he'd run his hands through it too many times. 

When Five saw him standing in the living room, the anger he'd been displaying to the punching bag collapsed and suddenly Five closed the distance between them and clutched onto Diego as though his life depended on it. Diego, through his shock and surprise, wrapped his arms around his little brother, offering as much comfort as possible. He gently coaxed the details out of Five, who muttered most of his answers through tears. He tried to digest his brother's words, but it was hard to think when his heart felt as though it was about to be yanked out of his chest at seeing his brother in an emotional mess. Emotional was probably one of the last words he would have used to describe Five. Even for a teenager, Diego thought that his little brother had his emotions in check most of the time.  
  
Eventually, Five fell into a restless sleep after having cried himself into exhaustion. Diego sat with him for the longest time, stroking his hair while he allowed a wave of growing anger to simmer in the pit of his stomach before he carried Five to his room and slid him into bed. He knew exactly who was at fault for Vanya being unplugged from the ventilator, and he was ready to rip his brother's throat out.  
  
Of course, when he called, it immediately went to voicemail.  
  
"You asshole!" Diego hissed, careful to keep his voice down so he wouldn't wake his brother down the hall. "How could you and Allison make the decision to end Vanya's life and not tell anyone else? That-that's so selfish! You or Allison need to call me back, right away, so we can discuss this." He hung up and placed the phone back on the table. He exhaled noisily and ran a hand through his hair.  
  
Vanya was gone.  
  
Now they were orphans and down one sibling, maybe two if Klaus' whereabouts continued to remain unknown. Diego shook his head in disbelief. He sat at the kitchen table for what must have been hours as his mind wandered through thoughts. Thoughts of rage towards Luther and Allison and their stupidity to do such a thing without considering his or Five's opinion. Thoughts of love towards Vanya and the happier memories they had shared when they'd been younger; there weren't many of those but he smiled, tears leaking down his face through closed eyes, as he recalled how good she was at playing the violin, how relaxed she looked when playing it. 

He'd always known Vanya to be a rather timid creature. Her and Five had been thick as thieves, and with only three years separating them compared to his ten years, they were just a lot closer in general compared to their other siblings. Her smile was something he couldn't recall seeing often, but she always seemed to have had a smile for Five.

He phoned Ben to tell him the news and although Ben was majorly upset about Vanya's passing, he seemed more concerned about Five's wellbeing. He told Ben as much as he'd seen and experienced when he'd gotten home, and he'd agreed with Diego that it seemed out of Five's nature to be so openly emotional. After he finished talking with Ben, Diego continued to sit at the kitchen table. He found it almost impossible to lift himself to his feet and walk over to the couch where he sprawled out. He pulled one of the pillow cushions under his head and kicked off his shoes. He folded his hands over his stomach as his eyes stared up at the ceiling.

Now they had another funeral to plan. It seemed too soon since their parents' deaths; he still wasn't over their mother's passing. he had only just gotten used to life without her in it.

 He wasn't aware he'd fallen asleep until he heard the sounds of someone quietly rifling through the pantry in search of something to eat. He rubbed the sleep from his eyes and slowly sat up into a sitting position.

Five was still dressed in his clothes, now rumpled from having slept in them, although his feet were bare since Diego had taken his shoes and socks off. His eyes were still puffy and red from crying most of the night. Despite being several months shy of sixteen, Diego couldn't help but think that he looked like an exhausted small child at that moment. His brother sat at the kitchen table, a peanut butter and marshmallow sandwich in hand.

"Hey, buddy. Feeling any better?"

"No." It was an obvious reply, Diego wasn't really sure why he'd asked such a stupid question in the first place. But Five had done a lot of crying last night, and normally, at least from his experience, crying made a person feel better afterward.

Diego made his way over to the table and sat adjacent to Five. He itched to reach out and place his hand on Five's but knew that affectionate gesture would probably backfire. He sighed and rubbed at a sore spot in his neck; the sofa was definitely not the best place to sleep. He glanced at the clock on the stove and groaned. Despite the death in the family, it was still a work day, and he hadn't informed his boss about his loss, so in the chief's eyes, he needed to be there.

"Where are you going?" Five asked as Diego got up from his spot.

"Work." It wasn't a complete lie. He did have to go to work, but he also had to hunt down Allison and Luther. He gave Five a quick peck on the cheek and grabbed his coat that hung over his chair. "Did you want me to call the school today? You don't have to go in today if you'd want to."   
  
"No, I'm fine. I'll still go."

* * *

As the day went on, he slowly regretted his decision to come to school despite what had happened yesterday. His mind was focused on nothing else but that event. It kept playing like a movie clip on a loop, neverending, each time grating on his nerves more and more.

"Five?"

"What, Kenny?" he hissed. He glanced up at the bespectacled boy, who stared at him with concern from across the table. "Are you okay? You look kind of...lost." Lost? That was an understatement. He felt lost and then some. Was it possible to feel more than lost? Lost and spiraling and out of control while falling in a black hole?

"A family member died." It wasn't a lie. Five just wanted to keep it as impersonal as possible. He didn't want to say that word. Dead. Died. The other terms people used were better, but in all honesty, he just wanted to avoid saying any words that meant that his sister was no longer in the realm of the physical, the realm of the living. It hurt too much to think of her being gone, passing onto wherever it is that spirits go.

"Oh, wow....I'm sorry," he said. He turned his attention to his hands. "Why are you here when something like that's happened? Shouldn't you be with your family?" Five exhaled heavily and bit on his tongue to refrain from yelling at his one-and-only- friend. From the few short years, he'd known Kenny, Five had learned that he was a rather sensitive soul, and yelling at him would only hurt his feels.

"Don't get me started on my family," he muttered. "They're useless to me right now."

That wasn't entirely true. His siblings were useful to him, from time to time. And although they could offer comfort, they had no control over what emotions Five expressed to them. That was his own struggle at the moment; he wasn't sure if he should be sad or mad since both suited the situation at hand.

"You shouldn't feel that way about your family," Kenny muttered. "Have you guys ever thought about therapy? Family therapy?" Five stifled a scoff. He often wondered how he and Kenny got to be friends when they were polar opposites. It was probably because most other students were frightened away by Five, whether that be for his smarts, his attitude, his words or his actions.

"You don't know my family-"

"Excuse me?" a sweet voice cut through. The two of them glanced up to see a girl with a red beanie cap standing beside their table.  "Do you mind if I sit with you guys?"

Five noticed how red Kenny's face was and how he seemed to be struggling to find the right words. At his friend's silence, the girl's eyes drifted over to him.

"Hey. I recognize you," she said, smiling slyly. "I ran into you in the hospital. You looked really shaken up when I saw you. Are you okay?"

The girl. The girl from the hospital. Yes, he remembered her, vaguely. She looked much healthier, stronger than she had in the hospital. Perhaps it had been the fluorescent lighting in the hospital, but her skin didn't seem as pale or sallow as it had when he'd seen her. She wasn't wearing the white shawl he'd seen her with, and now her missing arm was replaced with a prosthetic but those dark eyes were the same. 

"I'm fine," he repeated. He started to feel like a record playing on a loop. This girl stared at him for the longest time before she sat down across from him and next to Kenny.  
  
"You're lying."

Five glared at her, annoyed beyond belief. He hated people most of the time, especially people his own age since most teenagers hadn't developed enough in the frontal lobe. That lack of development often led to them making stupid decisions that left Five to stare at them while he struggled not to facepalm. He hated it even more when complete strangers attempted to be friendly with him. It all just felt so wrong; perhaps this short tolerance of people had to do with his upbringing. His entire life, Five had spent the majority of his time around his siblings and his parents. His father preferred the company of his office and notebooks although there was the odd time where he did teach a lecture at the university twice a week for an hour and half. His siblings had all flown the coop before he could even learn to try and be more social, and their mother, well, with her Alzheimer's, at times it had felt sometimes like Five was having a conversation with a wall.

"My sister died." Saying it aloud for others to hear made it seem permanent, made it seem real. He couldn't ignore it forever; pretending that _it hadn't_  happened could only last so long before his wish became a delusion. The mere utterance of his words twisted at his insides and Five's hands clenched into fists as he fought against the wave of nausea that passed through him. The smile faded away from the girl's face, her eyes darkening.   
  
"I'm sorry for your loss."

"God, I hate it when people say that," he muttered, ignoring the clenching feeling in his stomach. He glanced up at the girl and locked eyes with her, completely serious. "I don't even know you and you don't know me so why are you sorry?" The use of the words "I'm sorry" was so overused, just like the phrase "I love you", overuse it and the phrase becomes meaningless.

"She's just trying to be nice, Five," Kenny said. He glanced back to the girl, who seemed unoffended by Five's words. "He's normally really snippy towards people, so this is nothing new." The girl shrugged, unfazed by Five's tactics to throw her off from having any further conversation.

"Ever thought that maybe I _want to_  know you," she asked. He answered again by glaring  at her in annoyance. Perhaps by remaining silent, she'd stop pursuing answers and leave him be. Instead, she offered out her real hand in greeting. "I'm Dolores by the way."

* * *

Finding out what had happened to Vanya had forced Diego to hunt down Luther and Allison. He hadn't heard anything from them since they departed to L.A. back in January. However, Diego assumed that since they were the ones that had pulled the plug, they had to be around for the morbid event, which meant that they weren't in L.A. at the moment. 

And low and behold, he'd been right.

He'd managed to get a hold of Allison finally and she had requested that she meet her and Luther at the house, which was still up for sale surprisingly, to discuss Vanya's death. He'd left work early, thankful that his boss was lenient enough to let him leave when Diego mentioned it was a critical family situation. When he got to the house, they hadn't even bothered to take the argument into the living room. Instead, all three of them stood in the foyer, forming a triangle like a three-way showdown seen in old western films.  
  
"How could you do that?"  
  
"It was the right decision to make Diego," Allison said. Her arms folded defensively across her chest. "It's been a year. She wasn't getting any better. She didn't have a will..we were doing what was best for her." Diego scoffed.  
  
"Did you care to think about what making that decision would do to everyone else? To Five? He was a damn emotional trainwreck when I came home. He was the only one of us that visited her on a regular basis. You knew Five and Vanya were close, Allison. Why would you not let him in on the decision?" Allison shuffled her feet, and averted her gaze from Diego's; he was glad he made her feel guilty.  
  
"Five's too young to make these types of decisions," Luther interjected.  
  
"He's young, so what. Five's probably smarter than all of us here combined," he exclaimed angrily. "And don't think that I'm not aware of the substituted judgment and best interests bullshit that lawyers like to discuss if someone dies and they don't have a will." They both kind of looked at him, somewhat surprised at his statement. Diego couldn't help but scoff at them as his lips pulled up into a smirk. It seemed to them that they thought he was still their dumb, younger brother who fought too much and couldn't possibly have enough brain cells left from the concussions he sustained throughout his life. Diego knew that he wasn't the brightest bulb in the box, but going through the police academy and working his way up to detective had taught him some things and forced him to learn others.

"But this  _was_ what was best for Vanya," Luther said. Diego could tell by the slower pace at which he talked that Luther was trying to remain calm. Clearly, it seemed by everyone's defensive posture and defensive words that this situation had grown rather tense. "What kind of life is that? To be stuck on a ventilator forever. You  _know_ she wouldn't want that."

 He hated to admit that Luther had a point. It was no life to be stuck on life support forever, unable to do anything or go anywhere. And it was more than likely that Vanya would never have wanted that for herself, had she been able to make a decision. Whether he had a point or not, Diego could not deny any longer the wave of anger he felt toward his siblings on the dire, and the permanent decision they had made.

He punched Luther, hitting him square in the jaw. His brother seemed almost unfazed by the hit, but he glared at Diego angrily and Diego saw how his brother's large hands clenched into fists. Diego resisted from flexing his hand in pain; it had been a while since he'd intentionally punched anyone. Had it always hurt that much or had Luther's jaw gotten stronger?

"Fuck you both," he growled. He headed toward the door. This conversation was over as soon as it had begun and he knew that it would go nowhere when he was ready to stick both Allison's and Luther's head into the fireplace while it was lit.  "I hope you two enjoy going back to L.A."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, how was that? Any good? Constructive criticism and feedback are welcomed and appreciated as are any kudos left. They all make my day! And I hope you enjoyed!
> 
>  
> 
> Oh, and this has nothing to do with the story, but I highly recommend the Netflix movie "Dead in a Week (Or your money back)". The hitman in it reminded me so much of an older version of Five--when he would have been both physically and mentally 58. It was a decent film and I'd suggest watching it.

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you enjoyed! Feedback is highly appreciated, as are any kudos or bookmarks or what have you; it all gives me life! I hope you enjoyed this and please let me know if I should continue with this- the plotline is all up in my noggin but I have other WIP that I am ignoring, so....tell me if I should make this a priority among the others.
> 
> In regards to their ages, I will post a list here:  
> Allison and Luther: 27  
> Diego: 25  
> Klaus: 21  
> Ben: 21  
> Vanya: 18  
> Five: 15


End file.
